


Shadow and Bone

by Masterweaver



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, xenofiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 18:45:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16046378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterweaver/pseuds/Masterweaver
Summary: They come from nowhereThey are nothingThis is their story





	Shadow and Bone

Whispers.

Echoes.

All.

 

 

 

And then...

There is a then. There is a past, a future. A path.

The whispers are still there, but they are... denser. There are gaps of silence as they merge. Pouring through, no longer bound.

A new hollow. Not like the old; it has shape. It can be pushed, it can push against. And that is also new, there is against to push. There is space, between, where before there was none. The whispers grow tight, unsupporting, but this new hollow... it is a hollow inside, clung to, around. It moves, and holds, and then--

\--torn, torn apart, torn away--

\--but still here. The hollow rests on hard silence. The whispers are far, tangled into dense knots. This is... not what it was.

It could be brought back.

But to make the journey, there must be a path. And to walk the path, there must be ways to hear it.

The hollow has a place for this new sense. It knows this, senses it, curves.

And

then

there is space, with that which does not sing, and that which the hollow does not rest on. There are other hollows, themselves filled. Some are moving, already.

It raises the hollow, moving itself toward the whispers.

The least tangled of the whispers are also the most common, the hardest to release from the other that surrounds them. It almost isn’t worth the effort, not with this hollow. Some of the hollows are much larger, and can handle the tallest of these prisons, but it notices they are ignored.

Denser tangles are in smaller bundles, some as tiny as specks and others larger than the hollows. Freeing them takes more time, they must be caught and the other broken swiftly, but the tangle of whispers starts to unweave quickly when they are separated. The first few times the bundles are torn, it listens to the whispers... almost as it was before, if only for a fleeting instance. Around it, some hollows simply wait, allow the small bundles to move about.

It notices they are skilled, when the bundles come for them, skilled at freeing the whispers. But they do not seek the bundles, these hollows. They watch as they travel, eyes roving.

Attention. A sound, by one of the hollows. This is not new, now--there have been motions, noises, weak outlets to reach that which was separated. That within the hollow has found something. It joins the others, gathering to see.

There is the other, in strange patterns. It does not seem to hold the whispers, and yet... ah, there are more bundles, strange ones that have other that is not their other on them. They are smaller than the largest, but the whispers are dense within them. To free these whispers would be far more rewarding than the others...

It steps forward, but the larger hollow bars the way. This is not what it knows. It looks around, seeing the other hollows moving into dark places. They are all watching the strange conglomerate of other, all watching the bundles of dense whispers, none making any sound. This is what they were searching for; perhaps there is a sense in what is. It moves to darkness itself, staring at the other.

The high light moves, slowly, across the unbound. The darkness spreads as it whispers behind the edge of other, and small lights flicker into existence in the strange conglomerate below. The broken light has only begun to swim into the unbound when the hollows start moving again, keeping to the darkness for as long as they are able. One near it takes to the unbound, silhouetted by the strange soft things that now serve to blacken the rise of the broken light.

Small glimmers are here and there in the other. The hollows avoid them, though it is not clear why. Not until one of the bundles near a glimmer lets out a sound when a hollow steps in--brief, silenced quickly, but loud. Around them, multiple glimmers come, and the bundles begin to cry out.

From the great unbound comes the large hollow, screeching as it picks up bundles that reflect in the broken light. The others no longer hide, rushing forward to take the bundles, to unweave the whispers tangled within. It rushes forward, pinning a bundle of other to the ground, tearing and freeing the echoes that burst forth in a mad rush. The sound is so much like it was, before there was a before, but fleeting in its presence. It turns to face another bundle--

\--and it sees something, a form of other, embedding into a hollow, cutting it open. That within leaks, trying to remain cohesive, but flows eventually into the other, becoming unformed. The bundle turns to it, strange other raised. It snarls, the whispers within the bundle becoming inflamed by the sound, and watches the other wave around threateningly.

The great hollow from the unbound dives, lifting the bundle into the air, and it watches the whispers grow even more. Outlined by the broken light the great hollow releases its prize, which plummets to the ground and shatters, the whispers within bursting free and loud. It approaches the broken bundle, examining the other that had been held. Now, it is harmless... til a smaller bundle rushes in and grabs it, pointing it at the hollow warily as it backs toward a glimmer from within the oddly arranged other.

A large hollow sees this and pulls back a limb, breaking the other apart. The hollow jumps at the sound, turning around, and the one watching snaps forward. More whispers are freed, quickly, their sound fading swiftly as it lowers the bundle.

The broken light swims through the unbound, whisper after whisper dissipates. Soon, there is not a single tight bundle left. The larger hollows smash some of the arranged other, but the largest call for continued motion. There are more whispers to find and free.

There is a moment where one of the hollows sniffs at one of the glimmering, shattered bundles. It watches, until the hollow raises and breaks from the group. Then it turns back, following the larger hollows. There will be more whispers. The silence will end.


End file.
